Nightly Grades 1.30.13: Steve Nash returns, and loses

By Royce Young | NBA writer

January 31, 2013 1:13 AM ET

Each night, Eye on Basketball brings you what you need to know about the games of the NBA. From great performances to terrible clock management, the report card evaluates and eviscerates the good, the bad and the ugly from the night that was.

For Steve Nash's return, the Suns broke out some old school Barkley-era black uniforms. Outstanding. All that happens when teams do this, though, is I get mad because I wonder why those aren't a current staple.

It was one of those nights where Beasley revealed the talent that still makes people believe he can be a special player. He scored 27 on 12-20 shooting, taking over in the fourth quarter for Phoenix, hitting mid-range pull-ups and a tough go-ahead layup in traffic late. Sometimes he puts it together, and he can be the best player on the floor. Why isn't it consistent? That's the million-dollar question.

Suns fans

As they should, they gave Steve Nash a proper, huge ovation when he was introduced. Nash played eight seasons in Phoenix and left under OK circumstances. Nice moment. (Video via PBT)

With Tim Duncan out, brand new Spurs signee Baynes is seeing some time and he played moderately well against the Bobcats, adding seven points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes. Of course, he did. It's the Spurs. I think they could sign me and I'd somehow contribute six points and four assists in 15 minutes. That uniform is magical.

Passing Kobe racked up another nine assists. But as the Suns came back on the Lakers in the fourth, he tried to flip a switch and go back to his usual isolation ways. He finished 7-16 for 17 points but made a few bad passes late and missed a critical left-handed layup. Makes you wonder if the Passing Kobe experiment is over or not. Easy and fun to pass when you're winning.

A nice response by the Celtics, albeit over a hapless Sacramento team. This was their first game playing with the knowledge of being without Rajon Rondo, and they performed exceptionally well. It was point guard by committee and the Celtics made it through just fine.

So much for that. The Lakers blew a 13-point fourth quarter lead, getting outscored by Phoenix 29-13 in the final 12 minutes. The loss drops the Lakers to 5-16 (five and sixteen!) on the road. And this one came against the now 16-30 Suns. One step forward, one step back.

Brooklyn's third quarter

The Heat outscored them 36-14 in the third, basically winning the game right then and there. It was tied at halftime, but over 12 minutes later. Brooklyn turned it over eight times, couldn't make anything and just watched LeBron torch them.